Tourist season set to begin, unfinished works worry McLeodganj hoteliers

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, April 2

The tourism industry here is worried over various unfinished works and a road closed at McLeodganj. Stakeholders allege that the tourism season is about to begin, but a main road at McLeodganj is still closed for traffic.

Several development projects were going on here under the Smart City Scheme.

The Jogibara road here has been lying closed for traffic for the past three months due to the construction of drains along it. The work to lay a trench along the road from bus stand to the education board office is underway.

Ashwani Bamba, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Dharamsala, said after the Covid-19 pandemic was over, the tourism industry was expecting good business. It is an encouraging sign that groups form Asian and European countries are returning to the area. However, the blocked roads might create problems for the tourists.

The Jogibara road is one of the main roads in Dharamsala. It was closed in December 2022 for digging and concretising drains. “At that time, the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation authorities had claimed that the work would be over by January-end. However, the work has been progressing at a tardy pace and the road is still closed. We hope that it will be restored soon so that tourists coming here during the peak season do not face any problem,” Bamba said.

Tour operator Naresh Sharma said, “The closed road often leads to traffic jams on weekends, when hotels have only about 30-40 per cent occupancy. One can easily imagine the situation if all roads are not opened before the start of the peak season.”

Dharamsala MC Commissioner Anurag Chander Sharma said the Jogibara road in McLeodganj would be thrown open for traffic before mid-April. The contractors had been instructed to complete the work by April 10 so that the tourists did not face problems during the summer season. He said the pace of the work had been affected due to inclement weather.

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